DC Animation has had more successes than failures dating all the way back to their classic Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, and Justice League Animated Series and that standard has continued with their feature-length counterparts. Their have been a few clunkers (Superman: Doomsday springs to mind) but the majority of the animated adventures from the House of DC have been better than average with such notables as Batman: Gotham Knight, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, or All-Star Superman. Not since Justice League: A NEW FRONTIER though, DC’s second feature-length animated outing, has the folks at DC Animation really pulled it all together with story, animation, and voice acting to create a near perfect outing.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX is inspired by the FLASHPOINT storyline by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert for DC Comics. Essentially, it is the storyline which helped launch DC Comics NEW 52 – the relaunch of their entire line of books. Similarly, DC Animation’s next feature is Justice League: War which adapts a storyline from the NEW 52′s new look Justice League comic title. Not saying that DC Animation will only be dealing with post NEW 52 stories just that THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX sets them up perfectly for a Justice League story with a revamped Justice League due largely to the events of FLASHPOINT.
Back to the feature itself, there was certainly one character and storyline that stuck out for me — Batman. This alternate reality Batman is actually Thomas Wayne, not his son Bruce, due to the fact that it was Bruce Wayne tragically killed that fateful night and not his parents. An event so devastating that it would drive Thomas Wayne to forgo his medical practice and get waist deep in a Batman lore of his own creation. In addition, the stress of seeing her son killed in front of her drives a once sane Martha Wayne over the precipice into madness. This Batman (voiced compellingly by Kevin McKidd), while still possessing the keen intellect of a Bruce Wayne Batman, is much more blunt, to the point, and defeated; he has not so much created a new persona to deal with a tragic loss as Bruce did, but instead, Thomas Wayne has been burdened heavily and turned into a grave cynic due to the fact that he, the father, was unable to protect his family. As an aside, he also has no qualms with using firearms as Bruce does.
Thomas Wayne Batman aside, it is the Flash that drives this story. Flash’s Barry Allen would like to think that it is his archenemy Professor Zoom/Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash that has caused this massive shift in reality that finds the world at its end due to a war created by the heroes we know as Aquaman and Wonder Woman. However, The Flash (voiced by Justin Chambers) may be mistaken with the real catalyst of all this pain and destruction. A fun storyline that has you rushing along on this journey of discovery, and hopefully mending, in this alternate reality with the Flash. As the Flash meets this new reality, and the reimagined characters in it, so too does the viewer. We race along trying to put the puzzle of this reality together to hopefully revert it back to the reality we once knew either before the effects are irreversible, or worse, there is no more reality to save.
Other characters rounding out the cast are Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg, Dana Delany returning to her role as Lois Lane, fan favorite Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan, Cary Elwes as Aquaman, and Vanessa Marshall as Wonder Woman. There are even more where that came from as the folks at DC really filled this feature to the brim and perhaps that’s why, like Justice League: A New Frontier, this story really engages the viewer. When a story is good – novel, comic book, movie, animation, what have you – I find that you experience the material along with the characters and become immersed in their world, experiencing the twists along with them rather than just watching it play out on some screen in front of you. This is the case with The Flashpoint Paradox and some top-notch animation helps drive this point further. The animation has an almost feature quality Young Justice feel to it so if you were a fan of that recently discontinued series you should be quite happy. If you are a fan of Flashpoint, DC Comics, or animation in general, it is without a doubt one to check out.
The Guy in the Hat